The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1887-05-26
THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER, A 20, 1887:

of finding fault with the place he was
in, it's a two-to-one bet that in less
than a week he would be complaining
of the golden streets and signing for
a little good old Raleigh mud, or, if
of a musical turn, swearing that the
black diamond quartette could out
sing the whole host Of the seraphim.
I am firmly convinced that the old
type of four mile thorough bred was
the grandest type of horse ever de-
veloped up to that time, say up to
1910. In fact even up to the close of
the war the American thorough bred
stood as the very type of equine
majesty. Long before this, however,
the system of racing IN England had
begun to degenerate into single dashes
at short distances. With the close of
the rage for this class of races it came
across the Atlantic. In consequence
of this the breeders have from that
day to this sacrificed everything else
to speed, until now the fashionable
type of thoroughbred is a fiddle.
headed, spindle-shanked, w~asp-waisted
brute who is fit for nothing but a
racing machine. The trotter has in
the meantime been developing into a
grand and truly-made tyre of horse.
The boots with which the old fash
toned trotter was disfgured have, as
purity of gait has become established,
been laid aside until in the $4,000
stake c last year, the greatest race
by the way ever trotted, none of the
competitors were anything but quarter
boots. 1t will not pay then for a poor
man to attempt to breed thorough
breds, for if he don't get a a C horse
he gets nothing, and it probably will
pay to breed trotters, because even if
the colt is not a ace horse he will
command such a price as a roadster
as will pay all the cost of breeding
and leave a snug sum to his credit.
Another reason why a community
where wealth is not predominant, to
put things mildly, cannot 60 into the
breeding of the thoroughbred, is that
to begin the enterprise, are of pure
blood must be had, and they cannot
be bought by any one not blessed with
a long pocket book.
Now while high bred trotting mares
sell for even more than thoroughbreds,
it is unquestionably true that some of
the greatest trotters and trotting sires
have been produced by mares Of un-
known breeding, notably, Blue Bull,
who shares with George Wilkes the
honor of having begotten more $50
performers than any other horse that
ever lived, and so any farmer who has
a good mare Of good shape and action
may breed her to a we'll bred trotting
horse with an absolute certainly Of
getting a colt which will be better
than the mare, and a reasonable hope
of getting a horse that will pay for a
farm. 1t must not be thought from
this that blood is not of Importance
in breeding the trotter. On the con-
trary, the writer is firmly convinced
that in order to breed great trot-
tiers with a reasonable degree
of regularity, are is
needed in the selection of the blood
wen than in breeding the runner.
What he means to say is that there is
a certainty of a fair reasonable hope of
great profit in breeding such mares as
are described above to well-bred trot-
tiers. .
This very horse Blue Bull, cited
above, was in his immediate proginy |
equal to Geo. Wilkes and superior to
any other horse that ever lived. But
Blue Bull had no inheritance of speed,
and hence while his Individual quail
ties placed him on a level with the
best, his blood has failed to breed on,
and in the second generation he sinks
to ninth place-immeasurably beneath
his rival.
ITO be Contimued.)